Heather R. DeShon

Assistant Research Professor
CERI
University of Memphis

Contact Information:
3890 Central Ave
Memphis, TN 38152
(901) 678-1527 (office)
(901) 678-4734 (fax)

Email: hdeshon at memphis.edu
Education
        B.S., Geophysics and Mathematics, Southern Methodist University, May 1999
        Ph.D., Earth Sciences (Geophysics), University of California Santa Cruz, June 2004
            Thesis title: Seismogenic zone structure along the Middle America subduction zone, Costa Rica (link)


Research Interests
  • Earthquake generation within subduction zones and intraplate settings
  • Seismogenic zone processes
  • Local earthquake tomography and waveform cross-correlation
  • Volcano seismology
        For further information follow link to research page (updated Feb. 2009)

Current Research Projects

Subduction Studies
  • Imaging 3D Seismic Velocity and Attenuation Heterogeneity Along the Seismogenic Zone of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, NSF MARGINS Program, PI: H.R. DeShon (UoM)
  • Defining locations and patch sizes for slow earthquake ruptures in subduction zones, NSF Marine Geology and Geophysics, PIs: H.R. DeShon (UoM), S.L. Bilek (New Mexico Tech), E.R. Engdahl (U. Colorado)
  • High-precision teleseismic relocation and tomography for the M 9 and M 8.7 Sumatra great earthquake sequences, NSF Geophysics,  PIs: H.R. DeShon (UoM), E.R. Engdahl (Univ. Colorado), M. Brudzinski (Univ. Miami Ohio), and F. Waldhauser (Lamont Observatory, Columbia Univ.)
New Madrid Studies
  • Imaging Body Wave Attenuation Heterogeneity within the New Madrid Seismic Zone using Local Earthquakes, USGS NEHERP, PI: H.R. DeShon (UoM)
  • Detection and Location of Non-Volcanic Tremor in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, USGS NEHRP, PIs: C. Langston, H.R. DeShon, S. Horton, M. Withers (UoM)
  • Waveform Cross-correlation and Swarm Activity within the New Madrid Seismic Zone

Past Projects
  • Imaging 3D Seismic Velocity and Attenuation Heterogeneity Along the Seismogenic Zone of Costa Rica and Nicaragua and Costa Rica Seismogenic Zone Experiment (CRSEIZE), NSF Margins Program, PIs Schwartz (UCSC), Dixon (Miami), Dorman and Brown (Scripps) Link to CRSEIZE Seismology Data Site
  • Earthquake Location and 3D Velocity Determination of Alaskan Volcanoes using Waveform Cross-correlation and Double-difference Tomography, PIs Thurber (U. Wisconsin) and Prejean (AVO)

Selected Recent Publications

DeShon, H.R., C.H. Thurber, and J. Power (est. 2010), Earthquake waveform similarity and evolution at Augustine volcano, Alaska, from 1993-2006, USGS Professional Paper XXXX-X on 2006 Augustine Volcano Eruption, (accepted).


Sumiejski, L., C.H.  Thurber, and H.R. DeShon (2009), Relocation of eruption-related earthquake clusters at Augustine volcano, Alaska, using station-pair differential times, Geophysical J. Int., 176, 1017-1022 .


Pesicek, J., C.H. Thurber, S. Widiyantoro, E.R. Engdahl, and H.R. DeShon (2008), Folded slab subduction beneath Sumatra, Geophys. Res. Letts, 35, L20303, doi:10.1029/2008GL035262. PDF available by request


Pesicek, J., C.H. Thurber, H.R. DeShon, S.G. Prejean, and H. Zhang (2008), Three-dimensional P-wave velocity structure and precise earthquake relocation at Great Sitkin Volcano, Alaska, Bull. Seismo. Soc. Am., 98 (5), p. 2428-2448, doi: 10.1785/0120070213. PDF available by request

Engdahl, E.R., A. Villasenor,  H.R. DeShon, and C. Thurber (2007), Teleseismic relocation and assessment of seismicity (1918-2005) in the region of the 2004 Mw 9 Sumatra-Andaman and 2005 M 8.7 Nias great earthquakes, Bull. Seismological Society America, 97 (1A), S43-S61, doi:10.1785/0120050614.


Link to a complete publications listing with PDFs

Courses (link)

 Curriculum Vitae (link)

Graduate student opportunities

I am seeking M.S. or Ph.D. level graduate students to work on New Madrid, Costa Rica and Sumatra subduction-related seismology projects.  If you would like more information, please email me.


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Updated on November, 2009